Friday, July 26, 2013

戰國學術昌盛,百家爭鳴,但書寫多用竹簡,所以書籍少,教學多依口傳背誦。
宋國書呆子,名子鈍,雖誦書幾百卷,但家貧無書。
子鈍捉襟見肘,親戚憐之,贈雄雌雞四對,以營生養家。子鈍見雞歡喜,感謝親人厚意,退而思誦養雞古訓。
親人再來,只見子鈍忙拿針線油布,親人不解亦不敢問。數日後,下雨,小姑過子鈍宅,發現雞均著雨衣,四處覓食,彷若饑困。小姑難忍,問子鈍,「子餵雞何飼?」子鈍居然回,「不餵食,以免其逃逸。」小姑訝異,進問,「何以著雨衣?」子鈍踧爾曰,「嗚呼,姑不學無術!豈未聞古聖賢之言乎?」小姑曰,「謹問其詳。」子鈍正立曰,「雞不可濕,食不再來。」
承認,這篇犯規,因為典故後出,戰國時未聞:舊五代史·晉書·安重:仰認睿智,深惟匿瑕,其如天道人心,難以違拒,須知機不可失,時不再來。



Thursday, July 25, 2013

甘露元年己丑,吳大司馬呂岱卒,年九十六。始岱親近吳郡徐原,慷慨有才志,岱知其可成,賜巾韝,與共言論,後遂薦拔,官至侍御史。原性忠壯,好直言。岱時有得失,原輒諫爭,又公論之。人或以告岱,岱歎曰:「是我所以貴德淵者也!」及原死,岱哭之甚哀,曰:「徐德淵,呂岱之益友,今不幸,岱復於何聞過!」談者美之。       通鑑七十七
In 256 AD, Minister Lu Dai died at the age of 96. He had a close relative, Hsu Yuan, who was talented and determined to make his mark. Dai knew that Yuan was a talent worth advancing, so Dai gave Yuan scarves and archer’s sleeves, had discussions with him, and found an office for him. Yuan eventually rose to a very high rank; he was honest, brave, and never beat around the bush. Dai made a mistake, and Yuan publicly criticized him. Somebody told Dai. Dai said, “This is why I value him so highly.” When Yuan died, Dai cried mournfully, and said, “Yuan is my true friend. Now this misfortune has befallen me, who is going to point out my mistakes from now on?” 

Tuesday, July 23, 2013

現代家長為了證明自己的能力,犧牲兒女的能力。
Parents nowadays work so hard to prove their ability that they rob their children of the chance to develop their own ability. 
Great opening from a spam letter offering me untold riches:
Hello,
Forgive my indignation if this message comes to you as a surprise and may offend your personality for contacting you without your prior consent and writing through this channel…..  
I am an American Army my name is Captain Michael Brinkley.
I am overwhelmed to get a letter from an American Army, but wonder why the letter was composed on a Chinese language version of Word? Do you think I should be suspicious of the whole matter? 

Saturday, July 20, 2013

改編唐朝故事 an old story retold
遙遠山村扗一處斷崖下。崖,像國畫裏的那種,矗立凸天,崴崴峨峨。崖壁上長一種很特殊的靈果,下品為藥,可治百病,上品入貢為皇上專享。
三個外地青年想撿果致富,到山村來。他們第一眼看到崖壁,儍眼,從沒看過那麼高、那麼陡的山。第一個年輕人把裲襠往旁邊丟,抖抖肩、跺跺腳,說,「嘿,這難不倒我也!」二話不說,衝過去撲上巖壁,沒幾下子爬了四個人高。他往下看,跟同鄉青年說,「好啦,你們愣扗那裏沒關係,我先發財哈哈!」再往上爬,十個人高,他停住,說,「咦?再來怎麼爬?」他手往上伸,就一聲
摔死了。
第二個青年看,坐下開始計畫怎麼爬,天天很認真想,「我看他們村人如何爬,我也研究他們的路線,可是這個山很高,我沒辦法,我很想發財,我再看他們怎麼爬,哇!很難!我辦不到,我不夠好,我再看他們怎麼爬,呀,真難,我沒辦法!我想,應該會有一些果實掉落,我就可以撿起來,對!一定會有果實掉落,我扗這裏等就好了。」古宋人守株待兔,此青年守崖待果,天天扗那裏等,鬢鬚慢慢白了,牙齒一一鬆了,就是不見靈果掉落。臨終時,他嘆一口氣說,「我很可憐,我就是沒有發財命,別人都發財,只有我沒有。我真可憐。」
第三個青年看,走來走去,換角度看斷崖,扗不同時辰觀察,了解巖石的狀況。他也觀察村人如何攀爬,在崖腳練習動作。村民背著滿滿的籃子下來,他幫他們接,很客氣的幫他們把籃子送回家;不久,大家認識這個青年,也說他人不錯。大家熟了,青年請教攀崖的訣竅,村人都侃侃說明,還帶他到崖腳傳授技藝,也教他怎麼選摘靈果。不到兩個月,第三個年輕人有把握,他跟村民一起爬上那個巨高的崖壁,帶了半籃靈果下來。再過一個月,他堆了很多上好的靈果。他分一半給村民,以示謝意。他們選了一簍上上品的靈果饋贈青年。他牽著五頭驢,馱著靈果到京師,將那簍上上靈果送進皇宮貢獻給皇上,名噪一時。很快,他開了一家藥材店,貨真價實,不到二十五歲已成為京師鼎鼎大名的藥劑大師,娶了宰相的女兒,幸福美滿,活到很老才壽終正寢,阿彌陀佛。
Once upon a time, in mountains far, far away, a village sat at the foot of a huge cliff, the kind of cliff you see in Chinese paintings. On the cliff grew a wondrous fruit. The poorest could be used as medicine to treat all ills, and the finest were fit only for the Emperor.
Three young men traveled to the village, hoping to pluck some fruit and win their fortune. When they saw the size of the cliff, they stopped in their tracks. They had never seen a cliff like that before.
The first young man tossed his pack on the ground, shook his shoulders and stamped his feet, saying, “I can handle this!” He threw himself at the cliff, and in moments was up the cliff to a height of four people. He looked down and said, “What are you waiting for? I’m not going to wait for you, I’m going to get rich!” When he was about the height of ten people, they heard him say, “Uh-oh, this is tricky!” He grabbed with his hand, and fell
down
down
down    
splat.
He died.
The second young man studied the cliff very carefully every day. He said, “I’ll watch how the villagers climb, and study their routes. But this cliff is really big, I can’t do it. I want to get rich. I’ll watch how they do it. Wow, that’s difficult! I can’t do it, I’m not good enough. I know! Some of these fruit must fall, so all I have to do is wait here, and some will fall in my lap.” He waited and waited, but unlike Newton, nothing ever fell down to him. His hair grew white, and one by one, his teeth bade him farewell. On his deathbed, he lamented, “Poor me, I’m so unlucky! Everybody but me gets rich, but not me! Poor me!”
The third young man examined the cliff from different angles, watching as the sunlight showed features of the rock. He studied how the villagers climbed, and tried some of their moves at the bottom of the cliff. At the end of the day, when they came down with baskets laden, he was there to take the baskets for them and deliver the baskets to their homes for them. Before long, everybody knew this young man, and had good words to say about him. When they all got to know each other, the young man asked for advice in climbing. The villagers told him all they knew, and even took him to the rock face to show him the techniques and teach him how to pluck the fruit. After two months, the young man was ready to climb, and he followed the villagers up the gigantic cliff. He came down with only half a basket that first day, but when another month had passed, he had amassed a pile of fruit. He gave half to the villagers as thanks. They selected a basket of their very finest fruit in return. The young man left the village leading five donkeys packed to staggering with fruit, and made his way to the capital. He took the select basket to the palace and presented it as a gift to the emperor, which created a sensation. Soon he opened a medicine store. His fruit was high quality and his prices were reasonable. By the time he was 25, he was already an eminent apothecary. He married the Prime Ministers daughter, had a happy life, and lived to a ripe old age, and then he died in his bed. Amitabha. 

Thursday, July 18, 2013

三十年前吧,扗書上看到中亞曾強盛一時的一族,叫做
Hephthalites,也叫做 White Huns白匈奴。聽都沒聽過。歷史往往很殘忍:多少努力,多少血汗,輝煌一時,最後從記憶中泯沒,只留下蛛絲馬跡,風再吹,連這也無。
當時很好奇,再找其它資料,知道這族中文叫做嚈噠,後漢書謂滑。妙的是,雖是遊牧民族,卻母系,這很特別。但當時查資料不易,到此為止。
近日讀通鑑,及慕容鮮卑,或以其來自極北故而膚白,時人謂之白虜。白虜,想起白匈奴,大約扗南北朝,而今日時代不同,上網查,很快找到資料。電腦了不起:ㄧㄝ四聲就有嚈字(很後面),ㄉㄚ二聲噠,太棒!全世界中文電腦,恐怕沒幾個人打過這兩個字。
感謝wikisource提供魏書:
魏書 西域傳
 嚈噠國,大月氏之種類也,亦曰高車之別種,其原出於塞北。
其俗兄弟共一妻,夫無兄弟者其妻戴一角帽,若有兄弟者依其多少之數,更加角焉。衣服類加以纓絡。頭皆剪髮。其語與蠕蠕、高車及諸胡不同。眾可十萬。無城邑,依隨水草,以氈為屋,夏遷涼土,冬逐暖處。分其諸妻,各在別所,相去或二百、三百里。
其人兇悍,能鬬戰。」
才知,昔聞嚈噠母系,不實。但更美好的是,中國亞馬遜有書>>link<<,去年才出版。已經托北京的好友幫我訂,嘻~~~~
About thirty years ago, I came across a reference to a people I had never heard of, the Hephthalites, who were also called the White Huns. They were a great power in Central Asia around the 5th century AD, but what?? who had ever heard of them? Time covers the tracks of even the greatest of conquerors. In those days, there was little more I could learn about them.
Recently I have been reading history of around that time. I found that the Murung Hsienbei (Bayan Siber), perhaps because they came from sunless Siberia, were called the White Barbarians for their very light skin.
This brought to mind the Hephthalites, the White Huns. Times have changed, and within minutes searching on the computer, I had a wealth of data. In Chinese they are the Yeda, and from the Book of Wei:
Yeda… come from north of the borders. Their custom is that brothers share a wife. If a husband has no brothers, his wife wears a hat with one corner; otherwise, she has as many corners on her hat as her husband has brothers…. Their language is not the same as other nearby nations. They are nomads, without cities, living in homes of felt, migrating with the seasons… they are fierce warriors.

Not only that, but on Chinese Amazon I was able to find a book about them published only last year. A friend in Beijing is already buying it for me. 
More wonderfully obscure useless knowledge! Hurray! 

Tuesday, July 16, 2013

「反核」很容易變成「反風」。
「我是人,我反核」這個口號很醜陋:跟我意見不同的人就不是人嗎?說這句等于說,「只有我最清高,如果你不認同我的看法你就是畜生。」但這很容易變成:「我是人,我反風力生電。」
一樣無理。
>>click<<
What could possibly go wrong with wind power?

Monday, July 15, 2013

我為甚麼今天要上班?今天是達彥的豐年紀。

Saturday, July 13, 2013

Lokah kwara, hopaq kwalax ru behuy。下雨了,兩三年沒有風大的颱風,幫我們清理了很多樹枝。The Amis/阿美 word for typhoon is faliyos, which means angry winds. The Soulik/蘇力 typhoon brought rain and wind. I’m not sure if these winds were angry or not, but they were frisky, and as we haven’t had a good windy typhoon for a couple years, Soulik brought down a lot of trees, branches, and bamboo, and knocked over whole rows of motorcycles in the city.
This morning we got about 100 mm (=4") of rain between midnight and 7AM. We didn't even make the Top 100 for rainfall. The place in the white spot on this rainfall map got nearly 500 mm (about two feet). Altogether, some places got nearly a meter of rain in about a day and a half. Wet weather. Frisky winds and overloaded clouds.
Then I got to go out and clear fallen branches, AKA feeding the mosquitoes. 
'a micu na'no mʉchʉ ho poepe ta tan'e, at'inghi uk'a cimo kuzo. 安。
But the typhoon is gone now, so Adios, faliyos. 

Thursday, July 11, 2013

早上睡醒,眼睛一開,看到老鷹扗窗外盤旋于山雲間。怎麼有這麼美的事!This morning when I woke up, the first thing to meet my eyes was an eagle towering over the mountains and valleys. What a delightful way to start a day!
也是賴床的好理由。and a delightful excuse to linger abed a while longer. 

Wednesday, July 10, 2013

我入小學在Illinois鄉下,小學畢業于洛杉磯郊區,難免花很多時間扗車上;尤其週末出去玩、暑假旅遊,一上車少則一兩小時,多則幾個星期。只有玩過頭被父母罵,但一定不會無聊。與姊、哥玩、聽父母說故事講笑話、找外州的牌照、唱歌、認鳥、很多事可以做,當然最重要的是看風景;若不看風景,出門幹麼?不用說,那時沒有導航,有時大人要專心找路,小孩靜靜,也是一種參與、貢獻;大一點,幫忙看地圖,怎會無聊?當代沒有汽車音響,而我回想,父母連汽車收音機幾乎沒開過。
巴掌大的臺灣,上車沒幾下就環島了,而一般人只在市區開車,還說怕小孩子無聊所以要裝汽車電視。怎麼搞的?不想跟子女說話嗎?或害怕內扗空涸,沒有話跟小孩說?
I started elementary school in rural Illinois, and ended in suburban LA. Both entailed a lot of time riding in the car (blue 1959 Ford Fairlane). On weekend outings or summer vacations, a trip might last from an hour or so to a couple weeks. We kids may have gotten bawled out from time to time for rowdiness, but we never got bored. My sister and brother and I listened to our parents tell stories and jokes, we looked for out-of-state license plates (in Illinois, cars from California were rarely seen, but everybody believed Californians drove better than ordinary mortals), see what kind of birds there were, sing songs, there was always a lot to do, but most important of all, we took in the scenery. If you're not going to watch the scenery along the way, why bother to travel? Of course there were no GPSs in those days, so sometimes Mom and Dad demanded silence so they could figure out the route. We could help read maps and look for road signs and landmarks. We participated and contributed. There were also no car stereos in those days, and I can't remember my parents turning on the car radio. Nobody ever got bored riding in our car.

Taiwan is bigger than Massachusetts, and a tenth the size of Montana. You can drive all around the whole island in a couple days, but most cars are used for driving around the city. In these circumstances, some parents claim they are afraid their kids will get bored, so they install televisions in their cars. What kind of sick joke is that? If you don't want to talk with your kids, just say so. Or is it because these people are so vapid that they have nothing to say to their children? 

Tuesday, July 09, 2013

臺灣的新聞會比較真實地報導,較不會渲染、扭曲的,只有當天的日期。新聞自由不等于放手任君亂搞、恣縱The only part of the news in Taiwan that is credible and not twisted or distorted is the day’s date. Freedom of the press is taken as license for irresponsibility. 

Monday, July 08, 2013

中華路上一小群老人家帶著旗幟唱老調:臺灣獨立。看他們龍鍾老臉,看不出一絲笑容,也看不出一點歡樂,似乎都帶著很重的嗔。
不免想,您老人家憑啥要求臺灣獨立?您帶著旗幟瞪著路人,世界局勢就有義務為您轉變嗎?看不出他們有甚麼遠大的理想,也看不出甚麼細緻深刻的政治理論;是不是您老人家不能適應現代社會,而遷怒政府?
可憐。

Friday, July 05, 2013

到少輔院舉行三天成長營完畢,回家了。收穫豐碩,改天徐徐道來。非常感謝卓老師,也感謝譚熺賢老師講課,還特別謝謝民宿老闆宗聖先生。We have returned from a three day workshop at the Reformatory. Many thanks to Teacher Chuo, who leads our group of valiant volunteers; to Summer Tan of Narconan Taiwan for all his talks and teachings; and a big thanks to Arthur Chang for generously allowing us to stay at his place.